Game Design Build

[dhill89]

Approximate Purchase Date: within a week or two.


Budget Range: ideally $900 After Rebates, willing to go to about $1100 if it's needed for what I'm doing (I'll list that below)


System Usage from Most to Least Important: Game Design (not sure what programs specifically, but currently maya, source SDK, torque game builder. In the near future, I'm going to be using more top end game design programs) and audio recording (mostly the programs reason rewire through nuendo, with video running with it.)


Parts Not Required: mouse, keyboard, monitor


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg, open to whatever's cheapest.


Country of Origin: US


Parts Preferences: None really.


Overclocking: No


SLI or Crossfire: Is this needed?


Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080


Additional Comments: For doing audio work, is it worth it to buy a sound card or will I be fine using the onboard that comes with my motherboard? Thanks.

 

[Griffolion]

I suggest you get a parts list together yourself and we can give advice from there. Some general pointers though:

You'll definitely be wanting an unlocked (K version) I7 CPU for the hyperthreading, it will really benefit your usage scenario. So the I7 2600K will be my suggestion.

AT LEAST 8GB RAM (2 x 4GB), recommend 16 GB (4 x 4GB) at 1600MHz.

To keep the CPU cool under heavy use, i suggest a small after market cooler like the Titan Skalli.

SLI or Crossfire isn't needed, but i suggest a high end graphics card to help your work, like a GTX 570 or 580.

Yes, if you're purposefully working with sound in a professional manner then get a XONAR sound card. They are from Asus and offer the best sound to noise ratio's as well as a more comprehensive array of outputs to interfaces and speakers.

You'll want a decent PSU that gives you mission critical stability. So something like a Corsair HX 650/750 or an Antec TruePower 650W/750W.

Since you're not overclocking you won't need a particularly powerful motherboard, but i suggest one from Asus or Gigabyte. For the latest Sandybridge CPU compatibility (socket 1155) you'll want something from the P68 chipset range.

Getting an SSD is completely up to you, you'll be able to fit it into your budget if you want to. Get a small 60GB Sandforce based controller unit like the Corsair Force or OCZ Vertex 2, just to install Windows on. Then get a 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 for storage and programs etc. Heck, you may want a few if you're working with many big files.

Hope this helps.

 

[Griffolion]

Sorry for DP, but you'll definitely want Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit too.

 

[megamanx00]

Yup, you could use 8GB or more if you're going to be doing alot of 3D modeling. Anyway, here is what you may want to look at

Antec 300 $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066

CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 V2 600W $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028

Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) $83.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226184

Get two of these to run in a mirrored RAID
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533

Win 7 Pro 64-bit OEM $124.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116992

GTX 460 ZOTAC ZT-40408-10P $149.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500202

GIGABYTE GA-880GMA-USB3 $104.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128490

AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE $113.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808

LITE-ON Model iHAS124-04 - OEM $19.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289

Total: $917.90

I suggest dual Hard Drives in Raid for stability. In the event one dies you have a backup, and backups are important for development. You could just as easily go for a single drive so long as you back stuff up and can suffer the downtime in the unlikely event your hard drive dies. I also suggest immediately making an installable image of your Windows 7 installation after you have activated it. In case anything happens to your installation it will be alot easier to get your machine back and running.

 

[megamanx00]

If you go with a single Hard Drive, or otherwise increase your budget, you can go with a faster quad core Sandy Bridge CPU . At least with this build you can upgrade to Bulldozer latter on thanks to the AM3+ board. I also chose the GTX 460 over a 6850 simply because modeling software tends to like nVidia better.

 

[k1114]

Here's what I suggest. A faster cpu is much more important and you should be backing up on an external device although raid 1 has it's purposes. There's no point in getting more expensive caviar blacks when the samsungs are pretty much the same speed. Game design and audio are completely different jobs and if you're considering these as careers, you need to specialize in 1 if you ever hope to get a job. Although being able to do both will be a plus in smaller game studios who generalize jobs. I was not sure if you wanted windows in the budget but there is no reason to get pro over home premium, there's nothing in the extra features that you'd use. If you are a student or know someone how is you could get a student discount for windows.

There's a ide dvd burner free with the cpu but being ide, you won't be able to use it so added another. A sound card or ssd would be helpful but are less important and can be added later. You should consider overclocking, it's really easy with sandy bridge and a free performance boost.

■Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model AD-7260S-0B - OEM
■COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
■EVGA 01G-P3-1560-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
■CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power ...
■SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
■MSI P67A-C43 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
■CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B
■Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K
■XIGMATEK Gaia SD1283 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler bracket included I7 i5 775 1155 AMD and dual fan push pull compatible
■SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black EIDE / ATAPI Model SH-S222A - OEM
TOTAL: $979.35 Shipping Included. Before MIR.

 

[dhill89]

Thanks so much for the replies guys! Reading through all of this now.